Manunta, C. and M. Lafon.
A research work has been performed in order to compare breeds of tomato having different total acidity (from a high acidity to phenolphthalein to a very low one) for the quantitative relation in which the several organic acids--citric, malic, succinic--are present. The following conclusions have been reached:
1) The chief acid constituent in tomato is citric acid; malic acid is, in most cases, much more abundant than succinic acid (and than other acids, according literature, like galacturonic, acetic, formic, transaconitic acid that are present just in very little quantity, like succinic). In fact there is a sharp correlation between total acidity and quantity of citric acid; not, however, with malic or succinic.
2) These acids appear in different proportion according to the environment: malic and succinic acid, for instance, appear in higher quantity at the Rieti Station (400 m.) than at "Pian de'Rosce" (1100 m.) Station.
3) The concentration of these organic acids differs according to the breed; and it is possible to explore the inheritance of these racial peculiarities crossing the various breeds and evaluating the concentration in the hybrids.